WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — One of the four people killed in a plane crash at the Oakland County International airport Friday was a Western Michigan University aviation student.
Troy Brothers, 19, had just completed his freshman year, taking aviation classes, according to Cheryl Roland, Executive Director of University Relations at Western Michigan University.
Brothers, Roland said, had just received an appointment to transfer to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis this fall.
According to a press conference from J. David VanderVeen, director of central services for Oakland County, the plane was just 100 feet off the ground during a takeoff when the Brothers requested to return and land. According to the WMU’s newspaper the Western Hearld, Brothers was the pilot during the crash.
Also killed in the crash were his stepfather James Haley, 58 and his brother-in-law, Jamie Jose, 34. Brothers mother, Sandra Haley, 53, also later died at an area hospital.
Roland says Brothers was a good student and well respected. She says the school made counselors available to aviation students following the accident.
